


never gamble with cupid

by nobantrai



Series: 𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐁 𝐉𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐑 [3]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M, based on the game in kakegurui twin manga, coupling gamble!, donghyuck is a confident gay stfu, dreamies kind of make markhyuck make up, yes i love my girl groups
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:42:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23221936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nobantrai/pseuds/nobantrai
Summary: the members of club joker are tired of mark and donghyuck fighting every second of the day. so, they devise a plan.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Park Jisung/Zhong Chen Le
Series: 𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐁 𝐉𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐑 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1648018
Comments: 5
Kudos: 80





	never gamble with cupid

**Author's Note:**

> planning to update a little more frequently since we're pretty much all in quarantine rn :) also, sorry if some of the instructions seem a bit vague, it was because i was reading from the manga and some instructions weren't even clear to me, so i improvised and tried my best.
> 
> again, please make sure to take care of yourselves out there!

the moment donghyuck got to gamble with mark, he was as ready as can be. he researched every trick in the book, played with countless of other students, earned himself a name in their small world of gambling. yet, beating mark just seemed impossible.

donghyuck had wondered on countless occasions on what he could've done wrong. did he not read mark correctly? was mark that good at cheating? he didn't know and that's what pissed him off the most.

mark always seemed to have the upper hand with him, and for a person as prideful as donghyuck, he hated it with a burning passion. they've always fought because that's all they had to truly communicate with each other. they could never, for some reason, call it truce for once because it's considered as 'cowardly' and 'backing out of the game'.

let's just say, the rest of club joker are absolutely sick of these two idiots beating around the bush. so they did what they thought was the most sensible choice, which lead them to a school wide 'couple gamble'.

"welcome students of apgujeong high school! i'm sure everyone knows about today's festivities, especially because many of our well known couples have been formed due to this game." the students cheered loudly. seeing as this game was one of the more popular events club joker hosted, a lot of people came to participate. basically, no one ever wanted to miss out on the coupling gamble if they wanted to get the entertainment of confessions and gambling all at the same time. "and for those who aren't aware, i will gladly explain so that we can all have fun!"

jeno had volunteered to be the primary announcer this time around, as the last time he participated, he had to sit through a hellish date. he wasn't about to have a repeat of the situation so when the position was brought up, he raised his hand so fast he swore his arm popped out of its socket. the crew agreed, as long as it wasn't mark or donghyuck on that stage or else their plan would fail miserably.

"so here are the rules: teams of five will be divided by gender, a girl's team and a boy's team. everyone will be seated at a table facing each other, and the game will begin with the girl team choosing a guy to confess to. next, the guys will select a girl and whether or not they'll accept the confession or not. note that all of this is done in private. once that is done, the girls will all confess! remember, these confessions will only matter in context so it's okay if you don't actually like the person." jeno chuckled a bit, and proceeded to explain the rest. "if the guy correctly selects the girl of his choosing and accepts the confession, a new couple shall be born. if not, that coupling fails. now, here comes the wager; if the coupling is successful the girl will pay the guy their wager of one million won, and if the coupling fails, it would be vice versa. confessing or selecting the same person is possible and all rules apply to that as well. and since we do feel like our ladies have a bit of a disadvantage here, we decided to have special coupons that they can use."

jeno motions up to the large screen behind him, displaying the coupons.

**EXCHANGE NUMBERS → 50% OFF BET**

**ALL DAY DATE → 60% OFF BET**

**A KISS ON THE LIPS → 80% OFF BET**

**A SLEEPOVER TRYST → 90% OFF BET**

it was already known most students entered for the bonuses too. i mean, they were pretty neat bonuses.

"remember that these bonuses are mandatory to carry out of you want the discount. i hope everyone is ready to find some true love," jeno spares a glance over at his targets then went back to his speech. "let the games begin!"

almost immediately, everyone was walking around to find their groups and tables. of course, the boys of club joker stuck together to make sure their plan worked. chenle and jisung were sadly not in the gamble, but were the dealers instead. jisung was with mark's group while chenle manned another group. nobody said anything about it even they knew they were just trying to prevent a whole lot of sulking. any who, by the time they formed their group, they realized the girls side were missing a player while the boys team had an extra.

"i vote for hyuck to go over to the girl's team." renjun suggested, sending the boy a smirk.

"wha-"

"mhm, i agree with renjunnie. how about you guys?" jaemin looked over to mark and their other two teammates, yangyang and hendery. of course, mark had no problem in putting donghyuck over to the girl's side to watch him suffer, and the others shrugged their shoulders not really caring much about the situation.

in the end, donghyuck was put over on the girl's side so that the teams were even. some of the girls complained since a few of them actually wanted to confess to donghyuck, but being in the same team was fine too. when everyone got settled down, jeno talked into the mic again.

"since everyone has settled down, everyone may mingle with one another. get to know each other for a little bit and i'll be right back after time is up!"

donghyuck was low-key -well, that's debatable- pissed. one, is that he'd definitely have to use the coupons because he kind of splurged on his allowance the other week, whoops. his actions really be coming to bite him in the ass huh? it also does not help that he pretty much has no choice but to choose 'the sleepover tryst'. he really played himself today.

"hiya! my name is jaemin. nice to meet you lovely ladies, and of course hyuckie." jaemin says, sending several girls a wink and a charming smile. donghyuck made sure to give jaemin a dirty look, still holding a grudge on his betrayal.

"my name's renjun, but i'm sure you already knew that."

"hello! i'm mark, and i can't wait to play this game again. last year was so fun." his boyish charms were enough to get the whole table cooing. (except for donghyuck of course.)

"i'm yangyang and this is my first time playing this game, but i hope to find my true love." yangyang eye's were sparkling in this childlike excitement, a bright smile on his lips.

"the name's hendery and imma be honest here, i just want the cash." the table went silent at hendery's blunt statement, not knowing whether or not he was kidding.

mark's nervous laughter cut through the awkward silence and said, "okay, let's have the ladies introduce themselves yeah?"

"i'll go first," a girl with long inky black hair stood up, and bowed ninety degrees. "my name is choi jisoo, but please, just call me lia as it's easier on the tongue." she sat back down in her seat and motioned for the girl next to her to go next.

"park chaewon at your service! it's a pleasure to meet everyone." her smile was bright, as she waved to everyone.

"hello! i'm nako, pleased to meet you. i can't wait to get this game started."

the last girl gave a shy wave to the group before introducing herself, "my name's serim and it's my first time playing this too."

after that, all eyes were on donghyuck, who was still bitter about the whole betrayal. he wasn't really paying attention much to everyone's introductions, but at least he caught everyone's names.

renjun coughed to gain donghyuck's attention, "hyuck, it's your turn to introduce yourself."

"hm?" he finally switched his attention to everyone and dramatically rolled his eyes. "it's just donghyuck, nothing more nothing less."

mark scoffed and as if it was second nature, donghyuck immediately shot the boy a glare. "sounds like someone is still bitter."

"go suck a dick, you moose looking headass." donghyuck snapped back, his hatred burning bright.

"that's rich coming from you—"

"guys, how many times do i have to tell you to keep the arguing to the minimum? no one wants to hear your damn old couple banter every second of the day, so please, shut the fuck up." everyone was surprised the hear jisung talk in such way, especially when he's so childish around chenle. the boy must've been _pissed_ if he was talking like that.

to be fair, mark and donghyuck's arguments have been getting more and more frequent as of late. the boys would be lying if they said they weren't the least bit annoyed by it.

"alrighty! time's up everyone. i'm sure everyone had gotten to know a little bit about their teammates by now. i'll let the dealers do their job now. happy coupling guys!" with that, jeno sent a final smile to the crowd and disappeared off stage.

jisung, finally getting a grip on his annoyance, told the separate teams to go fill out a sheet in which they would decide in which order they'll confess or select with. after the teams filled that out and returned the papers to him, they went back to their groups to discuss who was going to pick who.

donghyuck, being the only guy in the girl's side, was already being suspected of working with the guy's side.

 _of course they would think that_ , he sighed to himself. _welp, i guess i just have to show them that i'm not._

"look, i don't know if you've noticed but i want nothing to do with mark or the other team. i was pretty much backstabbed, thank you very much. so the last thing i want is to let them win this." donghyuck looked at the group of girls apart of their makeshift huddle, and none of them looked quite convinced. and so, he pulled out his honesty card. "i'm even planning on using the sleepover coupon."

that seemed to do the trick, as the girls spared each other side glances before turning back to donghyuck.

"alright, we believe you. but if you pull something, we'll know. you're surrounded and it doesn't quite matter that you're a king of club joker." lia says, her gaze piercing right into donghyuck's soul.

he raised an amused brow. these girls had some spunk alright, and he's pretty glad he's got them on his team even though they suspect him of conspiring with the opposite team.

"will do, ladies. now, i'd suggest we all pick different guys. if we're thinking probability wise, we'd have a lower chance of getting a match," donghyuck proposed.

"hm, that's true. so does anyone have a preference on who they want though?" nako asked, after pulling out a thing of sticky notes from her uniform pocket along with a tiny pen to fit.

chaewon spoke up first, seemingly very excited, "i would like to confess to jaemin! i heard from jiwoo that he's actually a real sweetheart, and from what i've seen, she isn't lying."

"okay, chaewon to jaemin," nako proceeded to write down the pair then looked back up at the team. "anyone else want to choose before i just randomize it?"

the other girls kept quiet until donghyuck raised his hand. "i wanna choose."

"shoot."

"i pick mark." see, donghyuck had a solid plan with this. he didn't just choose mark for shits a giggles, but on the fact that he _knew_ mark would never choose him. there was now way, and donghyuck was betting on that outcome.

"uhm, not to sound rude or anything of the sort, but isn't mark the last person you'd want to pick?" serim pipes up. "like, he'd probably think you'd pick him too since we're going off of the 'oh, since we both hate each other it'd be unexpected if i pick them' kind of logic."

the girls nodded in agreement, and donghyuck felt his bit of pride crumble. she was right. he was just too eager to land a total beat down on mark, he didn't think about the logistics or possibilities. typical.

"so, we'll just pick randomly then?" donghyuck asked, raising a brow.

"yup, it seems so! okay, i'll write the pairings down here and if everyone's fine with it, we'll return back to the table." nako then started to scribble down the rest of the pairings, showing them to the group afterwards.

the pairings go as written:

**1\. CHAEWON - JAEMIN**

**2\. SERIM - YANGYANG**

**3\. NAKO - MARK**

**4\. LIA - RENJUN**

**5\. DONGHYUCK - HENDERY**

donghyuck scrunched his face up at his pairing, _great, i got the money hungry dickwad_. he thought, rolling his eyes.

while he was still with nako checking out the pairings, the other girls were discussing their own little things. right as he was going to go off with the others, nako held him back, "hey...um, i know we discussed the whole mark situation but i really want to match up with hendery..." she was avoiding his gaze as her cheeks turned a cherry red. "so, if you don't mind--"

"switching with you?" he finished for her, and she nodded bashfully. "but what's in it for me though?"

"umm, you get more time with mark?"

"i hate his guts though." donghyuck deadpans, clearly not impressed by the offer.

"look, i've just been having a huge crush on him lately so can you just do me this favor? please?" nako looked at him with pleading eyes. she honestly looked like a puppy that got kicked, and donghyuck felt as if she'll bother him until he gives in.

in no way wanting to experience that he sighed heavily, "fine, but if this is a match, do expect a little present from me in the near future." donghyuck turned away just in time for nako to slip out a devious smirk. _mission success_.

after their quick discussion, they and the rest of the girls went over to the table in their designated order. from the end of the table farthest away from jisung, chaewon was marked as the first contender. down the line was serim, lia, nako, then donghyuck. on the boy's side started with yangyang, then jaemin, hendery, renjun, and lastly mark.

they were all handed pieces of paper with the girls having numbers and the boys having empty name slots along with the options of accepting or declining.

"girls, you guys will circle the number of the guy you will confess to. and guys will write down the name of the girl you select, as well as if you will accept or decline the confession." jisung instructed, while making sure everyone had a sheet of paper. "guys, after you're done choosing, please pass down your sheets."

while filling the sheet out, donghyuck made sure to scowl at mark whenever they made eye contact, and jisung, being right there in between the silent exchange, was tempted to smack the two upside the head. but he withheld the urge in order to focus on their plan.

once everyone was done and the guys handed over their sheets to jisung, he went ahead and turned to jeno to give him a thumbs up. jeno nodded in response and picked up the mic. "i see that all tables are finished in picking who they'll be confessing to and accepting or declining from. we'll now have the confessions begin!" jeno announced.

"okay, anyone that is using the bonuses please speak up now so that it can be applied to your wage." jisung instructed.

"i'll be using the exchange numbers bonus." serim pipes up, raising her hand a bit

"same here." says nako.

"i'll be using the sleepover bonus." as those words left donghyuck's mouth, most of the table looked at him in shock. everyone knew what the 'sleepover' entailed, and the fact that donghyuck was confident enough to use the bonus just upped the stakes.

"is that it?" jisung took the silence as a yes and continued. "you may now start your confessions."

chaewon stood up, and looked directly at her target, jaemin. "na jaemin, i like you!"

jaemin smiled at the girl, "awe, thank you. you're so sweet!" it went on just like that, with the girls saying their confessions while the guys reacted accordingly. when the spotlight came over donghyuck, everyone was curious as to who donghyuck would pick. he could very well confess to someone that was already confessed to.

and donghyuck being donghyuck just had to make things the more dramatic by halfway climbing over the table so that one of his knees rested on the table, while he supported his upper half by propping up his arm. with his free hand, he grabbed onto mark's tie and pulled him forwards until their faces were a mere centimeters apart.

"mark-ah, _i love you_." everyone stared at the two with their jaws dropped all the way to the floor, while donghyuck held up a sly smirk, loving the way mark's cheeks flooded with red. his chest blossomed with pride in knowing that he just made his mortal enemy crumble before him.

finally snapping out of it, mark snatched his tie away and sat back in his seat clearly flustered. donghyuck, still enjoying his victory, went back to sitting down in his seat as well.

jisung cleared his throat, still thoroughly shocked by the show that was put on by his club members, went on to announce the rest of the instructions. "w-well now that the confessions are over, we'll be revealing if you matched up with anyone here. does anyone here have a preferred order they want the results be announce in?"

everyone shook their heads.

"i'll be announcing them in order of confessions then; the first confession was from chaewon to jaemin, and you two are...a match!" jaemin reacted with a smirk, winking at chaewon. jisung wanted to throw up at how cheesy jaemin came to be these past few months, but trudged on with the rest of the results anyways. "next was serim, and she confessed to yangyang. i'm sorry to say that it wasn't a match." yangyang sighed in defeat, bummed that he just lost but that was okay. maybe if he begs enough, serim might lower the wage a bit.

"lia confessed to renjun, resulting in it being not a match. seems like the girls are getting the bit of the upper hand, i see." jisung flips to the next sheet of paper, ignoring how renjun pouted petulantly. "nako confessed to hendery, leading to a success! congratulations you two." it seemed like both parties were happy with the outcome, as one cheered while the other's lips curled up shyly.

"and last but not least, our most awaited result, donghyuck and mark." at that point, everyone was at the edge of their seats, especially jaemin and renjun who had hoped their plan worked. seeing jisung send them a look, the two broke out in devious grins. donghyuck looked quite unbothered for someone who used the sleepover bonus, meanwhile mark looked like he just made the worst mistake ever. "they are...a match!" jisung raised up mark's fill-out sheet and renjun and jaemin nearly jumped out of their chairs to celebrate a mission success.

"wHAT?!" donghyuck screeched, snatching the sheet from jisung grip to look at it. once it dawned on him that not only would he have to pay mark a full 100,000 won, but he also had to have a 'sleepover' with him in order for the bonus to count. "you have to be fucking kidding me."

jisung just cackled in joy, "you wish, hyung. guess you and mark are going on your honeymoon, have fun!"

oh how he was so close to strangling the taller boy right now.

-

"i hate you, don't come near me, don't even breathe in my direction."

at the moment, donghyuck was at mark's house out of his own will. the two had settled in mark's basement bedroom that was much more organized than he would've thought. academic trophies were displayed on floating shelves, along with family pictures in decorative frames. mark sat on his bed that was pushed into one corner of the room, while donghyuck sat on the floor on the opposite end of the room, staying as far away from mark as he could in this situation.

"says you, you're literally in my house." mark retorted, giving the latter a sharp glare.

"and your house is on fucking earth! last time i checked, you don't own earth boo." donghyuck rolled his eyes and reached for his phone, only to come back empty handed. _right_ , the other's confiscated both mark and his' phones so that they would be able to 'bond' better. "fucking heathens." he muttered, promising himself to strangle each and every one of those buffoons for putting him in this situation.

the only nice thing he experienced today was when mark's mother gave him fresh hotteok, which he enjoyed very much. then it all went downhill from there, leading him to refuse to be any closer to mark while sitting in the opposite corner of the room like a child in timeout.

the awkwardness settled in quite quick and to rid of it, mark left to go take a shower leaving donghyuck alone in his room. when mark left, donghyuck felt as if a weight was lifted off his shoulders. he didn't know how much longer he could've gone if mark didn't leave when he did.

tired from the day, donghyuck decided it was in his best interest to finally get some shut eye. the wooden floor wasn't that comfortable, but he'd rather that than mark's bed. taking his backpack, he laid it down sideways to make his makeshift pillow then shrugged off his school blazer to use a blanket. this might be the most uncomfortable night of sleep he's ever going to get, but he wasn't about to show mark that he couldn't take a simple sleepover.

sure, this 'sleepover' normally meant the couple doing the devil's tango, but no way in hell was donghyuck about to do that. sighing for the umpteenth time that day, he lied down and got comfortable in his spot on the floor.

it took a while, but donghyuck eventually fell asleep and when mark came down the stairs to see donghyuck knocked out on the floor he couldn't help but feel bad. the boy was in this situation because he listened to jaemin and picked donghyuck when they were discussing who they would be selecting. if only he'd gone with his gut feeling.

to be honest here, mark just couldn't truly hate donghyuck. no matter how many snide remarks would be exchanged between them, he could never hold on to the malice. wow, such a surprise! but not really. mark was just that kind of kid who knew how to run his mouth but would feel guilty right after. he blames it on how donghyuck would never admit to losing, or determined he is to beat mark in anything and everything, pushing all his buttons yet somehow is still charming enough to get mark questioning.

he sometimes ponders on the possibility of coming to a truce. what would that be like? ( probably more peaceful, that's for sure.)

sighing heavily, he looked at donghyuck's sleeping figure curled up on the floor. he cringes at how uncomfortable he looked and decided to move the latter to his bed instead. it was the least he could do after what happened today. managing to hook his arms under donghyuck's figure, he carried him over to his own bed and set him down gently. he removed the blazer and replaced it with his own covers, making sure that donghyuck was nice and cozy. the latter didn't seem to budge from all the moving around mark did, which he silently thank the gods for because he did not need to be punched in the face this late at night.

he wouldn't mind taking the couch for tonight. besides, it was just one night. how bad could it be?

right as he was about to go back upstairs to the main floor, donghyuck spoke up out of no where scaring the living hell out of him. "why do you have to be so goddamn nice sometimes huh?"

turning back around, he sees donghyuck still tucked in but definitely awake. he rubs the nape of his neck out of embarrassment, "you were awake the whole entire time?"

"it's called being a light sleeper dumbass, but answer my question. why?" mark felt like a deer in headlight under the younger's scrutinizing stare.

"does kindness really need an explanation?" he says instead. "just go back to sleep. it's late and we still have school tomorrow. goodnight." turning back around, he proceeds to make his way to the stairs.

he didn't get to since donghyuck stumbles out of his bed and catches up to him, grabbing onto his wrist to pull him back. "i'm not letting you get a blink of sleep until you answer me, lee."

even in the dead of night, the fire in donghyuck's eyes never failed to die down.

mark has known donghyuck long enough to know that the boy was as stubborn as a bull. he won't relent until he gets what he wants, hence their rivalry.

"you're kidding."

"try me." donghyuck's challenging stare was enough for mark to give in.

"fine, you want an answer? i'll give you an answer: i just can't hate you alright? it doesn't matter how many times you call me a maple syrup snorting bitch or seagull brows, i just can't come to hate you. sorry that this 'rivalry' isn't as mutual as you may think, donghyuck." mark took a moment to just breathe and calm down. "maybe...maybe i just want to be friends with you instead. is that so hard to believe?"

after the older poured his heart out to donghyuck, he took advantage of his dazed state to escape to the living room, leaving donghyuck in the darkness of mark's bedroom.

"friends you say?"

-

_( before the school wide couple gamble )_

"are you sure mark and donghyuck hyung are gonna be okay with this?" chenle asked, still worried for the two boys. he was currently playing with the sleeves of his school blazer while laying his head on jisung's lap, more concerned with how his friends would feel rather than the success of the plan itself.

everyone had gathered to a secret club meeting without mark and donghyuck. the plan was to get the two to come to some sort of truce. everyone was tired of them fighting whenever they're together, so this was their solution.

"yeah, like how are we going to prevent them from literally killing each other? we can barely get enough of their bickering in here." jisung added on.

renjun only gave them a smug look. he guesses they don't see what he sees half the time. it is the reason for this whole plan they were setting out to accomplish, so... "have you not seen at how they look at each other?"

"with burning hatred...?" jeno answered, but it came out more of like a question than a concrete answer.

"no you dimwits!" renjun ruffled in hair in frustration. being one of mark's closest friends during their time in high school, he had quite the time listening to the latter's angry rants. many involving donghyuck, might he add. "mark is an idiot and so is donghyuck. the two obviously want to be more than enemies but both are too fucking prideful to make a move."

"so, we're going to intervene? how though? they can barely stay in one room for a minute without provoking each other." jaemin states.

that's when renjun gave jaemin an evil smirk. he had this plan in the making for quite a while now. he just had to tell the others the workings before putting it into motion. "jaemin, i hope you're ready for club joker's annual coupling gamble."

and that's how jaemin got wrapped into the elaborate plan the club put together. they had some favors put in with a little bribe but they'd say it worked out way better than they originally planned. with nako being able to improv when things started to go a bit into left field and the boys being completely flexible with giving up a million won. it was all in the workings of club joker and nothing more.


End file.
